diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 58ca6a9ba9..e75798a549 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -639,6 +639,12 @@ elseif( FLUIDSYNTH_FOUND )
 	add_definitions( -DHAVE_FLUIDSYNTH )
 endif()
 
+option( SEND_ANON_STATS "Enable sending of anonymous hardware statistics" ON )
+
+if( NOT SEND_ANON_STATS )
+	add_definitions( -DNO_SEND_STATS )
+endif()
+
 # Project files should be aware of the header files. We can GLOB these since
 # there's generally a new cpp for every header so this file will get changed
 if( WIN32 )
diff --git a/src/d_stats.cpp b/src/d_stats.cpp
index 5886d4cef5..9ea3e80b57 100644
--- a/src/d_stats.cpp
+++ b/src/d_stats.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+
+#ifdef NO_SEND_STATS
+
+void D_DoAnonStats()
+{
+}
+
+#else // !NO_SEND_STATS
+
 #if defined(_WIN32)
 #define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
@@ -276,3 +285,5 @@ void D_DoAnonStats()
 	std::thread t1(D_DoHTTPRequest, requeststring);
 	t1.detach();
 }
+
+#endif // NO_SEND_STATS